FLORHAM PARK -- A Somerset County man pleaded guilty today to stealing a handgun and jewelry from a home in Florham Park three years ago and now faces being sentenced to seven years in state prison.

Tommy Dotson, 26, of South Bound Brook, pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Morristown to third-degree theft and second- and third-degree unlawful possession of a weapon.

Dotson committed the theft on Aug. 14, 2006 when he was working for a subcontractor installing satellite television equipment in the home, authorities said. Dotson, who had two prior burglary convictions in 2002 and 2004 in Middlesex County, was prohibited from possessing a gun, authorities said.

Because of the prior convictions, Dotson could have faced up to 20 years in state prison if convicted this time of being a persistent offender. Instead, he accepted an offer from the Morris County Prosecutor's Office to plead guilty to all three counts against him and face a seven year sentence, with a five-year period of parole ineligibility.

A week after the theft, the homeowner noticed that the gun, a 9-mm Ruger semiautomatic, and two women's rings -- a .84-carat diamond engagement ring and a gold wedding band -- were missing, authorities said. An investigation led to Dotson's arrest, and he told police he sold the gun and rings to a man in Perth Amboy known as "H," authorities said.

Five days after Dotson's arrest, the gun was used in a shooting in Perth Amboy, and the suspect in that case was Julio Henriquez, 22, of Perth Amboy, who also was known as 'Homicide' or simply 'H,' authorities said.

The gun recovered in this nonfatal shooting had the same serial number as the one stolen by Dotson in Florham Park, authorities said. Henriquez was charged, went to trial and was found guilty by a jury of aggravated assault, and was sentenced in January 2009 to five years in state prison, authorities said.

Dotson will be sentenced Sept. 4 by Judge Thomas Manahan in Superior Court in Morristown. The diamond ring, valued at $5,000, and the wedding band worth $200, were never recovered, authorities said.